One Piece Day 2023 to Stream in English for the First Time

One Piece Day has been an annual event in Japan that celebrates all things One Piece. In the past, the shonen franchise has released some bombshells when it comes to what the Straw Hat Pirates have planned for their future. Now, One Piece Day has dropped a bombshell for its English-speaking fans, confirming that this year’s event will be streaming an “English interpretation” of the special day for Luffy and company. 

Earlier this year, One Piece Day released a promo video to hype fans up for the event with Luffy’s Gear Fifth transformation front and center. While Monkey has accessed his ultimate transformation a few times in the manga, the only place that anime fans have been able to see the form briefly in action is during the latest film in the franchise, One Piece Film: Red. As the War For Wano Arc continues in the television series, fans have been left wondering if the upcoming event might give fans a glimpse of Luffy’s transformation in the series for the first time.

What is One Piece Day?

One Piece Day first began in 2017 as a way to honor the wildly popular shonen franchise. For this year’s event, it will stream on Friday and Saturday, July 21st and 22nd. Since this will air on Japan’s time, it will air at 1AM Pacific Time on its first night and then 5:40PM for its second. Here’s how Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. has broken down the official announcement for the upcoming event: 

“In collaboration with Shueisha Inc. and Toei Animation Co., Ltd., Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. will hold “ONE PIECE DAY ’23”, an event that brings together all aspects of ONE PIECE including: manga, anime, movies, music, games, and merchandise for “ONE PIECE” fans all over the world. ONE PIECE DAY ’23 will be held at Tokyo Big Sight on Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22 JST. For the first time, the main stage festivities will be streamed live to the world on YouTube with simultaneous English interpretation. Visit the YouTube page to receive alerts for when the livestream begins!”

The event will start with a special screening of One Piece: Film Red, which will be followed with a special talk with Uta’s voice actor Kaori Nazuka. Following this, One Piece Day will house several special events that bring together voice actors from the series as well as the creators responsible for the anime adaptation. 

Via Press Release